Jan Salick

Indigenous diversity of Cassava: Generation, maintenance, use and loss among the Amuesha, Peruvian upper Amazon

For cassava (Manihot esculenta Euphorbiaceae), results from field collection, semistructured interviews, phenetic and cluster analyses, and Global Information Systems (G1S) indicate that cassava phenotypes vary with elevation and topography, but less with soils or pests and diseases. Amuesha women with a sense of tradition maintain many cassava varieties along with associated myths, songs, names and indigenous production. The shaman plays a key role in breeding new and maintaining traditional cassava germplasm, while the rest of the tribe nurtures cassava germplasm dynamics through collecting, trading, stealing, maintaining favored cassava varieties, and purging the less desirable. The future of cassava diversity is of concern to some Amuesha as production and market interests surmount more traditional attention to variety.ResumenResultados de colectas de campo, entrevistas semi-estructuradas, analisis fenetica y de conglomerados y sistemas de information geografica indican quefenotipos de yuca (Manihot esculenta Euphorbiaceae) varían con altura y topografía, pero menos con suelos o plagas insectiles y enfermidades. Las mujeres Amuesha, arraigadas en sus tradiciones indígenas, conservan muchas variedades como parte de un mundo cultural de canciones, mitos, nombres de variedades y métodos tradicionales de uso alrededor de la yuca. El curandero tiene un papel clave en seleccionar nuevas variedades y mantener variedades tradicionales, mientras una buena parte de todos los Amuesha cuidan la dinámica del germoplasma de yuca colectando, intercambiando, prestando sin permiso, manteniendo las mejores variedades y abandonando las variedades no-deseadas. El futuro de la biodiversidad de la yuca is una preocupación de algunos (as) Amuesha por la creciente importancia de criterios de mercado y de productividad en vez de la atención traditional a la misma biodiversidad.

COVER ARTICLE: Yanesha Agriculture in the Upper Peruvian Amazon: Persistence and Change Fifteen Years Down the ‘Road’

For centuries the Yanesha have practiced complex swidden agriculture well adapted to the narrow valleys of the upper Peruvian Amazon. The 1980s marked a time of increased change in the Palcazu Valley, beginning with the construction of a marginal highway (Carretera Marginal) in 1984 that dissected several native communities, this study employs quantitative plant ecology and interviews to describe change in Yanesha agriculture in Laguna fifteen years later. Percent cover, planting density, field size, and diversities of species (α), field-type (β), and height class did not change in fields. In 1999, black earth and commercial agroforestry were new field types, and upland rice fields were absent. In home gardens, species richness persisted, while changes in species composition reflected species experimentation and aggregation of homes along the roadside (with upland soils). The road facilitated the flow of plants, people, and markets to influence Yanesha agriculture, and facilitated other agents of change during more than a decade of guerrilla, military, Ashaninka, and drug-trafficking activities plaguing the Palcazu Valley. This violence punctuated calmer periods when “development” was promoted by aid agencies. Agents of conservation included community land titles, immigration restrictions, a national park, protection forest, and communal reserves.ResumenPor siglos los Yanesha han practicado un sistema agrícola de roza-y-quema bien adaptado a los valles de la alta Amazonia peruana. En los años ochenta varios incidentes afectaron el Valle Palcazu, incluyendo la constructión de una carretera (la Carretera Marginal) que dividió algunas comunidades indígenas. Esta investigatión utilizó métodos de ecología botánica cuantitativa y entrevistas para describir cambios en la agricultura Yanesha en Laguna después de quince años. El porcentaje de cobertura, la densidad de siembra, el tamaño de campo agrícola, y las diversidades de especies (α), del tipo de campo (β), y del nivel de altura no cambiaron en los compos agrícolas. Entre los cambios importantes en 1999 se presentaron nuevos tipos de campos con tierra negra y campo agroforestal comercial y una ausencia notada de arrozales. En huertas domesticas, se conservó la riqueza de especies, aunque se presentaron cambios en la compositión de especies como resultado de la experimentatión y agregación de casas por la carretera (con suelos pobres de altura). La carretera facilitó movimiento de plantas, personas, y mercados que influyeron la agricultura Yanesha, y facilitó otro agentes de cambio durante más de una década de actividades de guerrillas, militares, Ashaninka, y narcotraficantes en el Valle Palcazu. Agentes de conservation incluyieron titulos comunitarios, migration restrijida, un parque national, un foresta de protection, y reserves comunales.

Whence useful plants? A direct relationship between biodiversity and useful plants among the Dusun of Mt. Kinabalu

Traditionally the Dusun indigenous people of Borneo consider Mt. Kinabalu the home of spirits and ancestors, and they are loath to climb the summit without good cause and plentiful propitiation. In apparent accordance with these beliefs, Projek Etnobotani Kinabalu has recorded few useful plants at high elevations on Mt. Kinabalu. We ask the question: is this an ecological relationship with fewer useful plants being collected at high elevations, or is it an ethnological product of belief with fewer plants collected where people fear to tread? With an indigenous Dusun plant expert (second author) well versed with all areas of Mt. Kinabalu, data on the number and kinds of useful plants were collected for dominant and indicator plant species (168 spp.) among all ecologically identified vegetation types. Results indicate that there are more useful plant species at lower elevations – but there are also more unused species. Once the data are corrected for change in the number of plant species with elevation (useful spp./total spp.), the proportion of useful species are not significantly different over elevation. Thus, useful species are a function of overall biodiversity (i.e., number of useful spp. are correlated with number of plant species, a secondary ecological factor) and not a direct ecological correlate with elevation. The number or kinds of uses also correlates with total number of plant species. In support of direct ecological causation, there is evidence that edaphic conditions (i.e., ultramafic and other poor soils) are associated with reduced proportions of useful species. Ultimately, both ethnological and ecological factors contribute to patterns of peoples use of plants with many implications for conservation and biodiversity.

Crop Domestication and the Evolutionary Ecology of Cocona (Solanum sessiliflorum Dunal)

Of approximately 200,000 species of flowering plants, perhaps 3000 are eaten as food. About 200 species have been domesticated as crops, and of these, only 15–20 are now of major importance (Heiser, 1973; NAS, 1972). Despite this statistical minority of domesticated crops, few activities have so changed the history of the human race as has crop domestication.

Applied Ethnobotany. People, Wild Plant Use & Conservation

Tony Cunninghams extraordinarily rich and varied volume on ethnobotany in the People and Plants series is undoubtedly one of the best recent texts on the subject. Tony has dedicated his career to conservation and sustainable management of wild plant resources and so the applied orientation of his book is consistent, as is the application of ethnobotany to these goals. Even so, Applied Ethnobotany offers much more than application. Basic ethnobotanical tools are offered in hypothesis generation, field taxonomy, sampling and inventory, life forms, population biology and ecology, landscape ecology and marketing. Cunningham pulls together diverse literatures from basic ethnobotany, ecology, and economics, and marries it successfully with the literatures of conservation, and sustainable development. It is a text appropriate for both basic and applied ethnobotany. It loses none of its potency for this juxtaposition and melding, but dont be misled about the extended function of this extraordinarily useful and well-written book. To quote Tony himself in another context, we need to defend against the false dichotomy between applied and theoretical aspects of ethnobiological research (EWG in press). Applied Ethnobotany is oriented toward conservation through ethnobotany. The book begins with Tonys emphasis on 1 Conservation and context, and then follows immediately with basic methodology 2 Local inventories and with marketing 3 Settlement, commercialization, and change. The mid-section of the book is dedicated to more basic methods: mensuration 4 Measuring individual plants and assessing harvesting impacts; population biologies 5 Opportunities and constraints on sustainable harvest; and 6 Landscapes and ecosystems. The final sections return to Tonys orientation 7 Conservation and 8 Striving for balance, a discussion of the global-local duality and complimentarity. Figures and boxes, which make reading easy, details rich and facts well documented, enhance these chapters. Citations are numerous and well employed. Tonys broad background in ecology and evolutionary biology is evident in the diversity and rigor of methods he employs in ethnobotany. Not only does he appreciate the intricacies of matrix modeling and landscape ecology, but also he clearly relays their relevance to ethnobotany, conservation, and sustainable development. As a proponent of ecological ethnobotany, I often refer students to this text as an introduction to the approach. Tonys own emphasis however is on the impact of harvesting of wild plants by people. The late Darrel Posey used to call wild that four-letter W word. In his introduction, Tony discusses this issue saying, Wild and domesticated species are at opposite ends of a continuum. Nonetheless, he seldom addresses that continuum or its implications to conservation and natural resource management. I think this is a missed opportunity to explore many complex interactions between plants and people; by using the W word, we immediately slip into the comfortable mold of seeing these plants as other and not as integral with us; these are not wild plants to be conserved but an interactive process between people and plants to be valued. But hey, small stuff compared to Cunninghams greater view of applied and theoretical aspects of ethnobotanical research. In summary, Cunningham stresses issues of both cultural and biological diversity. This book is intended as a practical guide to approaches and field methods for participatory work between local people and field researchers. In particular, it is aimed at African students or professionals working in conservation, rural development or as national park managers who have to make resource management decisions. However, Applied Ethnobotany has much wider relevance.

Subsistence and the single woman among the amuesha of the upper Amazon, Peru

Abstract Among the Amuesha (Yanesha) indigenous people, single women practice agriculture differently and opportunistically construct subsistence strategies differently than most tribal members. Single women cross gender‐defined boundaries that traditionally determined participation in subsistence. Single women cultivate small lowland fields cut from young secondary regrowth. Crop density is high while diversity is lower because crops needing heavy labor are avoided. Crop rotation is delayed, resulting infields that are older than normal. Home gardens are important. In a broader context, creative subsistence strategies are opportunistically developed using child labor, barter, and cash. Off‐farm employment may be important. These trends may represent acculturation or some creative development within the larger trend of feminization of agriculture in Latin America.

The interplay of hybridization and clonal reproduction in the evolution of willows – Experiments with hybrids of S. eriocephala[R] & S. exigua[X] and S. eriocephala & S. petiolaris[P].

Clonal reproduction may contribute to plant evolution either by affecting population biology or by allowing partially sterile individuals (e.g., hybrids) repeated opportunities to reproduce sexually. The interplay of hybridization and clonal reproduction was first proposed by Stebbins (1950), but previously has not been tested experimentally. Alternative models for the effects of hybridization include speciation, introgression, and swamping. Salix spp. were chosen to test comparatively these hypotheses because they are easily hybridized and cloned. Over 500 separate crosses and backcrosses were made and over 6000 separate plants were measured in field experiments and statistically compared for significance to both evolutionary theory and plant breeding for biomass production. The F1 hybrids in this study always equalled, and in the case of the hybrid PR, outperformed their parents in vegetative parameters. It seems likely that even without reproducing sexually, these F1 hybrids could exist as successful individuals (sensu Stebbins 1950). However, it also seems likely that they would sexually reproduce: three of four F1 hybrids studied (RX, RP, and PR) equalled or surpassed their parents in sexual parameters when crossing with at least one other accession. Of the alternative models, experimental data suggest that introgression would be the most likely outcome of a hybridization event. The hybrid XR, however, was partially sterile and performed poorly when crossing with all other accessions in its group except S.xa0exigua (pistillate parent). Thus, this hybrid may fit Stebbins model of a partially sterile yet vegetatively vigorous plant that can exist as a successful individual and make some contribution to interspecific gene flow over time. This is the first experimental study to confirm the evolutionary importance of clonal reproduction coupled with hybridization. However, distinguishing any of these evolutionary pathways would be difficult in nature using morphological techniques, as interspecific hybrids tend to resemble their pistillate parents in terms of leaf shape.

Home Gardens and Agrobiodiversity

© 2006, by The New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx, NY 10458-5126 U.S.A. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 3. Dyes and tannins. Jansen, P. C. M. and D. Cardon, eds. 2005. PROTA Foundation, Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, Netherlands/CTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. 216 pp. (paperback). a 25 (book only, industrialized countries), a 32 (book plus CD, Industrialized countries), a 12.50 (book only, developing countries), a 16 (book plus CD, developing countries). ISBN 90-5782-159-7 (book only), ISBN 90-5782-160-5 (book + CD-ROM).